Baron Pierre de
Coubertin was really fond of Rowing and included it as an Olympic sport in
1896 at the first modern Olympic Games. The weather was bad and those events
had to be cancelled. The first rowing events were actually held for men in
1900 but women were not included until 1976.

Rowing boats used to be made
of wood. Today they are made of plastic or fiberglass. They can be 23.5 inches to
24.5 cm wide and 9 yards to 21 yards long. The boats weight between 39 and 211
lbs.

The rowers are
also divided into categories by weight. There are two
categories of boats in the Olympic games and there will be races for both men
and women.

In Sculling the athletes hold
two oars, one oar in each hand.

Single scull -
one rower

Double sculls -
two rowers

Quadruple sculls
- four rowers

Lightweight
double sculls -

In Sweep rowing
the athletes use both hands on one oar.

Pair

Four

Eight

Lightweight four
men

Divided into
lanes, Rowing races
cover a distance of 1.25 miles in a river, canal or lake. If you have friends
in college you may have head them use the word "crew" to describe rowing.